A review by pinkalpaca
Christmas crimes: Stories from Ellery Queen's mystery magazine and Alfred Hitchcock mystery magazine by Cynthia Manson, Jeffry Scott, Jacqueline Vivelo, Edward D. Hoch, Agatha Christie, Robert Richardson, John Dickson Carr, Ann Cleeves, Georges Simenon, Peter Lovesey, Margery Allingham, Ron Goulart
3.0
This anthology was quite a mixed bag.
~A Winter's Tale by Ann Cleeves, 3*
~Appalachian Blackmail by Jacqueline Vivelo, 4*: Amusing family tale reminiscent of James Thurber
~Never Two Without Three; or, A Christmas Tragedy by Agatha Christie, 3*
~To Wake the Dead by John Dickson Carr, 4*: Creepy
~Grist for the Mills of Christmas by James Powell, 4*: Darkly funny
~Believing in Santa by Ron Goulart, 3*
~Pass the Parcel by Peter Lovesey, 4*
~The Theft of Santa's Beard by Edward D. Hoch, 2*: Repetitive boringness with an abrupt ending
~The Case is Altered by Margery Allingham, 4*
~Inspector Tierce and The Christmas Visits by Jeffry Scott, 3*
~The Ghost of Christmas Past by Robert Richardson, 4*: A Sherlock Holmes story!
~Maigret's Christmas by Georges Simenon, 2*: This one story is almost a third of the book-much too long.
~A Winter's Tale by Ann Cleeves, 3*
~Appalachian Blackmail by Jacqueline Vivelo, 4*: Amusing family tale reminiscent of James Thurber
~Never Two Without Three; or, A Christmas Tragedy by Agatha Christie, 3*
~To Wake the Dead by John Dickson Carr, 4*: Creepy
~Grist for the Mills of Christmas by James Powell, 4*: Darkly funny
~Believing in Santa by Ron Goulart, 3*
~Pass the Parcel by Peter Lovesey, 4*
~The Theft of Santa's Beard by Edward D. Hoch, 2*: Repetitive boringness with an abrupt ending
~The Case is Altered by Margery Allingham, 4*
~Inspector Tierce and The Christmas Visits by Jeffry Scott, 3*
~The Ghost of Christmas Past by Robert Richardson, 4*: A Sherlock Holmes story!
~Maigret's Christmas by Georges Simenon, 2*: This one story is almost a third of the book-much too long.